The Double Whammy of the World and Our Work
Catholics face a kind of double whammy from the world and our work. We've talked often about how work can fill every nook and cranny of our minds and hearts such that we have no time for God. We've also talked about how our almost completely secularized society has not only marginalized God and His moral law in the public realm, but minimized any references to either God or our Holy Religion in our private lives. Hence the double whammy.
In thinking about how to combat this, we might look to the most excellent examples we can find. And who could be more excellent an example than a saint whose life we take the trouble to learn about and to whom we develop a specific devotion. For me, Bernard of Clairvaux fits the bill. We recently talked about St Bernard in an exortation to lift our hearts from earthly things (e.g., when we're busy at work) to those of Heaven. I thought we might turn to him in the face of this double whammy of work and the world. Perhaps he will offer an antidote to the sometimes grinding, wearying effort to fend off those who would have us forget God and focus all our attention (and thereby expend all our time and energy) on worldly matters to the detriment of our souls.
We begin with these words of St Bernard as quoted in Pope Pius XII's encyclical commemorating the 800th anniversary of the great saint's death. Let's drink a draft of this potent tonic of the saint's deep love of Jesus Christ:
In thinking about how to combat this, we might look to the most excellent examples we can find. And who could be more excellent an example than a saint whose life we take the trouble to learn about and to whom we develop a specific devotion. For me, Bernard of Clairvaux fits the bill. We recently talked about St Bernard in an exortation to lift our hearts from earthly things (e.g., when we're busy at work) to those of Heaven. I thought we might turn to him in the face of this double whammy of work and the world. Perhaps he will offer an antidote to the sometimes grinding, wearying effort to fend off those who would have us forget God and focus all our attention (and thereby expend all our time and energy) on worldly matters to the detriment of our souls.
We begin with these words of St Bernard as quoted in Pope Pius XII's encyclical commemorating the 800th anniversary of the great saint's death. Let's drink a draft of this potent tonic of the saint's deep love of Jesus Christ:
What can so enrich the soul that reflects upon it (the holy name of Jesus)? What can . . . strengthen the virtues, beget good and honorable dispositions, foster holy affections? Dry is every kind of spiritual food which this oil does not moisten. Tasteless, whatever this salt does not season. If thou writest, thy composition has no charms for me, unless I read there the name of Jesus. If thou dost debate or converse, I find no pleasure in thy words, unless I hear there the name of Jesus. Jesus is honey on the lips, melody in the ear, joy in the heart. Yet not alone is that name light and food.Our saint would not waste time in a world that excluded Jesus Christ and neither should we. A life centered on Jesus Christ meets any challenge the world or our work sends our way. The very name of Our Lord can strengthen us no matter the difficulty we may face:
Is any one amongst you sad? Let the name of Jesus enter his heart; let it leap thence to his mouth; and lo! the light shining from that name shall scatter every cloud and restore peace. Has some one perpetrated a crime, and then misled, moved despairingly towards the snare of death? Let him but invoke this life-giving name, and straightway he shall find courage once more. . . Whoever, all a-tremble in the presence of danger, has not immediately felt his spirits revive and his fears depart as soon as he called upon this name of power? There is nothing so powerful as the name of Jesus to check anger, reduce the swelling of pride, heal the smarting wound of envy...We see how unconditional, all-encompassing love for Christ begets an unshakable faith as well as a sure hope that His saving grace fills the world as no promise of happiness in worldly pursuits and pleasures can. And next time, we will see how St Bernard's devotion to Our Blessed Mother can also help us withstand the double whammy of the world and our work.
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